7 October 2019: WWF has announced a change in its approach to freshwater and wetlands protection to now focus on achieving “big wins” at the systemic and landscape levels. While still focusing on animal species, WWF will seek to build coalitions of partners at the river basin level and adopt an integrated and holistic approach to protecting freshwater resources. Some of the highlights described in its freshwater brief are efforts to promote resilience in Asian deltas, maintenance of Asian flyways for migratory birds, and conservation of river dolphins in some of the world’s largest rivers.

In a four-page Freshwater Initiatives Brief, WWF outlines key areas of activity, namely: resilient Asian deltas; free-flowing rivers; Asian flyways; water sources in Africa, and river dolphins in the Amazon, Ganges, Indus, Mekong, Irrawaddy and Yangtze Rivers. A bar chart shows stages of implementation in each focus area, from the early concept stage to proposal development through to funding and implementation.

The brief shows a concentration of “bankable projects” in Africa, Asia and Europe. Efforts in Central and South America are also underway, with efforts to protect the transboundary Pantanal wetlands in Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay, and safeguard almost 300 “water reserves” created in Mexico.

WWF also cites some of the major gains achieved through prior work, including an increase in river dolphin populations in the Indus and Mekong Rivers, European Union endorsement of an urgent action plan on sturgeon, and Zambia’s cancellation of a proposed hydro-power dam on the Luangwa River. [WWF Announcement]